We have an 08 H-D Ultra ( 35 k miles) with a CSC Friendship 3 car, also tow a trailer and has a Mamba reverse. The transmission died on 6-22-15 as I was leaving to the national rally. I spoke with the mechanic on Saturday and he told the tranny is completely destroyed. He is pricing out the harley parts to fix/replace the tranny.

Seeking advice - do I replace with harley parts or an after market tranny -- looking for a tranny that will hold up and something with a lower 1st gear than the H-D 6 speed and can have a reverse.

Here are my thoughts.Baker is know for building reliable tough transmissions. I'm not sure you need a 7 speed but I'd call and talk to them. Remember it isn't just getting the trany that can be expensive, to integrate it to the computers running your bike will cost you also. Don't forget to figure those prices in too. Here is what I mean, this is from the baker site. It is the fitment note for the their 7 spd.Fitment Note: Cruise Control will only work in 7th gear and the Red Line will be 5200 RPM with the DD7 on Throttle-By-Wire bikes equipped with stock ECM’s. No other motorcycle functions are affected in these instances. The 6th gear indicator light will come on when the DD7 is shifted into 7th on all models and all ECM’s. Aftermarket tuners such as Daytona Twin Tec and TTS-Mastertune will allow cruise to function in all gears, like stock, on Throttle-By-Wire bikes when coupled with the DD7 gearset. Dynojet can also flash your stock ECM to adjust the cruise control the cruise and red line, while still allowing the ECM to work with piggy back units like Power Commander. Any questions on this, please give our tech line a call.

That means if you want to use cruise in 5th or 6th with the Baker7 you will need to spend some more money.

Be sure to read the notes at the bottom of the page about belt length if you go the pulley route. You may end up needing a different belt to go with a smaller pulley. Something that should go on as the trans is being replaced because on an HD both primary covers and the clutch need to be removed to replace the pulley or the belt and that stuff is off when you rebuild or replace the transmission.You will also need a speedo recalibration unit. Andrews suggests Dakota digital apparently.

HD's 6 speeds have sucked. It's been a weak spot for them. I'm not sure if they have ever gotten them to be robust even on the new ones. They keep reworking pieces and parts and swearing they have it right this time. Your not alone.

You could also run a lower profile car tire . That too will raise your rpm's at any mph taking some load off of the trans.Maybe running in 5th instead of 6th. I'm not sure how much it would effect your gas mileage. As was pointed out to me recently it is mostly the change in the frontal area of the vehicle by the addition of the sidecar that kills your mileage.

With my new to me 91 Aspencade at appox 65 or 70 mph it takes 10 hp to run the bike down a level road. The increased frontal area of the car I have which is wider than my old one roughly doubles the horsepower requirement at that same speed to 20. This means everything in my drivetrain is getting twice the load cruising down the highway. Yours too.

While I have never really looked into this, some thoughts, your current transmission should not have blown up! Some say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. The more gears you put in a given space, the thinner the gears must be and as such assuming they are made from the same material the weaker they must be. Do you really need 6 speeds let alone 7? The 5 speed is not known to have problems, why not go to the known reliable 5 speed? Adding gears for the sake of adding gears is kind of like making the engines larger and larger simply for the sake of being able to say you have a larger engine. Do you really need or use it?
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

The 5 is far more bullet proof, especially the last ones, they are a good solid transmission. Just not sure if they still fit with all the changes to the 07 and later bikes.
Your dealer or a good independent would know.

Thanks for the input. Upon closer inspection, the shop found not everything was destroyed in the transmission. The failure was due to rust inside the transmission which caused bearing failures, most likely caused by condensation last winter. We live about 18 miles from the coast and many times after a cold night, temperatures will warm up mid morning with very high humidity and condensation gets all over on cold metal and evidently inside a metal box too. Looks like I need to do some proper winterizing for next season.

Repairs: The transmission will be rebuilt -- H-D parts will run about $600 plus labor verses a Baker DD7 for about $2500+ plus whatever else it will take for proper install. Except for a high 1st gear, I'm not unhappy with the 6 speed. The DD7 was considered only for its low 1st gear.

If you want to change that ratio to something lower a car tire is a good way to do it. Kill two birds with one stone that way. Right now I am replacing the 160 80- 16 on our wing with a shorter 175 60r- 16 changing first and the rest by 6%. If you decide to investigate this route ask on a HD forum as to what car tires will fit your bike. Be sure to tell them it is a sidecar that can't fall over or you will find yourself with hate mail about the evils of car tires on motorcycles. The only real expense will be living with the speedo being off or buying and installing a device that lies to it to make it right and the cost of realignment of the car if necessary once you drop the rig an inch or so in the back.

The other way is to buy the Andrews front belt sprocket and continue to run a motorcycle tire. If you intend to do that you should get it now so that it can go on when they rebuild and reassemble your trans. You will get the change in ratio without running a car tire. Your car alignment will stay the same.
Edit: speedo will be off without a module that corrects for that. Which are available.